Lamp shade and method of making the same



Feb, 7, 119% E. K. MADAN ET AL LAMP SHADE AN D METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME2 SheetsSheet 1 Filed Aug. 14, 1947 EDWARD K MADAN FIG.3 ROBERT\Al-MADAN INVENTORS Feb. 7, 11950 E. K. MADAN ET! AL LAMP SHADE ANDMETHOD OF MAKING THE SAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 14 1947 FE G. 8

EDWARD K. MADAN ROB ERT-W. MADAN INVENTORS FlGmG Patented Feb. 7, 1950L'AMZFSHADE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME;

Eflward'KL'. Madamand Robert W. Madan, Maplewood; NIJJ, assignors to TheEmeloid Co. Incor porated,"Arlington-, N. J., a corporation'of' NewJersey ApplicationrAugust. 14, 194.7, Serial No..768,592.

8 Claims; (Cl. 2'40--108) 1 1" This invention rel-ates.to lampshadesand, more p rticularly, .to lamp; shades. composed of..'a.p1u=- ralityof. inter-locked permanently. connected sections made. ofathermoplastic. such. as. that commercially, knownas. polystyrene, or ofany other 'suitablaknown; plastic.

Anobject of the presentinvention/is topmvide anattractive.appearing lampshade which is rigid throughout. its entire... construction, is.translucent, and: can. be. made, inany, color. or combination. of colorsandlwhich due. to. the nature of S the thermoplasticof which it is.C011! structed, will present a..true, beautiful. color. eff fct ,whenthe lamp..-is.lighted..or. unlig-hted...

Another. object .of.'the .present invention isathe. provision 1011a.plasticlamp shadewhich is. made up or assembled .ofEaapluralitY ofpanelsorv the sameshape and. size. thereby-permitting; stock manufactureof the. panels andassembly into lamp shades. of different-sizes, within.the .'pre.-. determined limitsof-size. The panels-have. novel engagingedgesections so. constructed. and are rangedthat-the. sections..may; bequickly and easily assembled and .which .will insure the properassembled relationship.- between the: sections without requiring extremecare in their assembly or. connection one torthessother.

A further object of the. zinventiondslto provide simple, novel.meansefor, attaching and; holding the lamp base-'engaging. metal-irametothelamp shade.

Another objectof the present-invention; is to provide a .lampShad-6210f. plastic: panels .whereby all of. theepanels .mayr be'.-0f:'the same: or one color, or. various combinations of; differenticols credpanelsrmay,beaassembleri.to form the. shade, or certain-of or al1..oitheepanels mayincorporate luminous material so. that the: shade 3 or.parts thereof will glow and be 'visible.-at-,nightwhen the lamp is.-out.

The methodloi .manufactureaofethe shade.- em-.-

braces, besides the manufactureiof identical stock sembledshade toprovide 'an' artistic and attrac tive appearance.

With these and OthBITObjGCtS'iH'VlGW; asmay appear. from theaccompanying specification, the

, invention consists. ofvarious features oficon+ struction and.combination of parts, which will be first described in. connection with.the accompanying drawings, showing. a lamp. shade and method.oimakingthe same of a preferred form embodying the invention, andth'e'features forming the inventionwill' begspe'cifically pointed out inthe.claims.

In. the drawings Figure. 1' is a side elevation of ,a. 1'ampshade ofthepresent invention.

Figure 2Iis an. enlarged cross section; on the line, .2-2 ofTFigure 1.

Figure 3 is an.enlarged.longitudinarsection onthe line 3-3 ofFigure 1..

Figure 4 is an enlargedfragmentary View. of theinterionof the-shade...

Figure. 5 is a frlontelevation of one of the panelsof. which. the shadeis assembled.

Figure 6 is arearelevation of. one of the panels. Figure 7.is-an.end-.view ofloneof the. panels. Figure 8 is a fragmentary view. ofone ofthe panels showing. onemanner of decoration thereof to provide anattractive appearingshade.

Figure 9 isa. fragmentary vertical. section through a modified. form ofthe. lamp. shade.

Referring more particularly to the, drawings, the lamp shade. l ismadeup. of .a plurality. of connected panels 2. In manufacturingthe.lamp shade the various panels I 2;. are made-independently, and-as allvof them= are identical. ingsize and shape a-- large number of panels maybe made at one period and; subsequently, assembled into shades ofdifferent sizes, within. predeter+ mined" limitations of size;Thiswillenablethe runninggor making-f arlargenumber. of whitepanels-atone, time; ,a large number ofv pink panels, blue panels-& or;panels of any; other. color which may be. assembled subsequently intoishades of all. onecolor; or, into shadessmade; up. -or.-'as#.- sembledfrom a plurality of panels of difierent colors thus reducing-thecostfiofmanufacture of the lamp shades.

As is: shown-,in Figure oizthe drawings the side: edges. of:the.paneltaper'towards. eachzother item; the bottom. of;the--panel-:.towards:= thetop so that when they are connected one withanother a flaring shade will be provided.

While the panels shown in the drawings are of a specific definite shape,it is to be understood that any practical shape may be manufacturedwithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

Each of the panels has a receiving rib 3 formed longitudinally along oneof its edges and extending inwardly from the inner face of the panel, asis clearly shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. The receiving rib 3 has alongitudinally extending groove 4 molded or formed therein, the innerside wall 5 of which is perpendicular to the plane of the fiat faces 6of the panel, while the outer face or wall 1 of the groove is cut at anacute angle to a plane perpendicular to the face 6 of the panel 2.

The edge portion 8 of the portion H face 1 of the groove and at an acuteangle to a plane perpendicular to the face 6 of the panel 2.

The panel 2 has an inserting rib l0 formed along its edge opposite tothe edge along which the receiving rib 3 extends, and while thisinserting rib i0 projects at right angles to the plane of the panel 2 ithas its outer face H cut at an acute angle to a plane perpendicular tothe face 6 of the panel while its outer edge I2 is cut at an obtuseangle to the plane of the outer face ll of the inserting rib and at anacute angle to a plane perpendicular to the face 6 of the panel 2. Theinner edge i3 of the groove 4 is cut substantially parallel to the face6 of the panel 2. By shaping the groove 4 in the receiving rib 3 and byshaping the inserting rib ID in the manner just described, two adjacentpanels will automatically be forced into their proper angular positionrelative to each other when the inserting rib ID of one is inserted intothe groove 4 of the receiving rib 3 of the adjacent panel, during theassembly of the shade and thus extreme care in the accurate placing ofone panel relative to another will be eliminated, resulting in areduction in the time and cost of assembly of the panels into a shade.

A plastic cement of any suitable type is placed in the grooves 4 of thepanels prior to the insertion of the inserting ribs thereinto so thatwhen the panels are connected and this cement sets the panels will berigidly and permanently connected in shade formation.

The longitudinal relation of one panel to another in assembling thepanels is determined by the engagement of the upper end of the receivingrib 3 with the inner edge of a lateral rib M which extends across thetop of each of the panels 2 and extends inwardly at right angles to thepanel as clearly shown in Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings. As shown inFigure 4 of the drawings, the receiving rib 3 of each panel is shorterthan the length of the panel by the thickness of the lateral rib i4 sothat when the two panels are connected by placing the inserting rib illof one in the groove 4 of' the receiving rib 3 of the adjacent panel andare moved longitudinally, the upper end of the receiving'rib 3 will,upon coming in 'contact with the lateral rib l4, limit such endwisemovement and cause the panels to assume their proper longitudinalrelationship one to the other.

The receiving ribs 3 of each of the panels have a transverse groove l5cut or molded therein a predetermined distance downwardly from the upperend of the panel, and when all of the panels are assembled in 'shadeformation all of these transverse grooves l5 align or lie in the sameplane. The transverse grooves [5 are provided for receiving therein thewire or annular rim [6 of the metal frame I! by means of which the lampshade is connected to and supported from a lamp base (not shown). lhus,the metal connecting frame I! may be quickly, easily, and accuratelypositioned in the shade with a minimum amount of labor and theresiliency inherent in these metal frames, which are ordinarily made ofwire is sufficient to rigidly hold the frame I? in position with its rimI6 engaging the transverse grooves I5. I

As is clearly shown in Figure 5 of the drawings, the panels have anartistic pattern and this pattern is formed by novel steps in the methodof manufacture of the panels.

The panels are formed, as is usual in the molding of plastic articles,in dies by hot press plastic molding machines (not shown) which are wellknown on the market, and in forming the panels of the present inventiongranular thermoplastic material such as polystyrene, of which the panelsare made, is made up of a mixture of granules of a color of the basiccolor desired such as pink, blue, yellow, green, or the like, White andclear granules. If the panel is to be white, then only white and cleargranules are mixed. This mixture of either the basic color, white andclear granules, or of the basic color and clear granules is flowed intothe mold from theupper end thereof towards the lower end. The patternshown in Figure 5 of the drawings, which is a spray wave-like pattern,is formed by flowing the mixed granules into the mold from the top endof the mold in a slightly diagonal manner providing the spray wave-likepattern which terminates in a. whorl pattern at the bottom of the panel.If the diagonal wave-like pattern is not desired and a whorl patternalone is desired, this can be provided by a straighter directional flowof mixed plastic material into the mold. By mixing the various color andclear granules in the mixture, the pattern provided in the panel will becomposed of segments or configurations of the deep basic color, white,and clear, and some segments of the pattern will be of a paler shade ofthe basic color provided by the mixture of the white and basic colorgranules and their union during the melting and molding section of thepress.

The method of molding the panels will permit molding embossed designs onthe panels rather than a plain polished surface, if desired; or thepanels may be molded with a pattern of openings left therein, ifdesired.

A further manner of decorating the panels is shown in Figures 1 and 8 ofthe drawings. These views show an artistic design, printed, painted orotherwise put on the panels, in such manner that when the panels areassembled in a complete shade, the designs on the individual panelscooperate to form the complete design on the shade. It is to beunderstood that any suitable artistic design may in this manner be putupon the panels in any of many well known manners of surface decoration.

Also, in the mixing of the thermoplastic granules, luminous material maybe mixed with the granules so thatwhen the panels are formed thisluminous material will be incorporated in the panel structure providinga panel which will absorb light when light is available and give of! aglow in darkness so that a lamp shade may have panels incorporatingluminous material 'o'r acaanca 5. embodying some panels whichincorporate the luminous material and willjbe visible at,. .night orinthe dark.

, As previously stated, a lamphshadewmay be made .upof panels of allof-onecolor, ofpa-nels of different. contrasting colors, of. panels. all1 of which embody the luminous. material, or, of panels, offwhich only apredeterminedhumber embody luminous material.

It may be necessary ordesirable, in making relatively large lamp shadesin accordance with the present invention, to provide reenforcement forstrengthening-or increasing the rigidity of this lamp shade.- Figure- 9-ofthe drawings shows a modified form of the invention wherein the panels2' have grooves 20 cut in the receiving ribs 3' near the lower ends ofthe panels. A circular reenforcing wire 2| is snapped into the grooves2!! and extends completely around the assembled shade for reinforcingit.

If it is so desired, the grooves 2|) and the reenforcing ring 2i may belocated at any place along the lengths of the panel 2' and one or moreof these rings may be employed depending upon the size of the shade.

It will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to thespecific construction or arrangement of parts shown, but that they maybe widely modified within the invention defined by the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a lamp shade, a shade body'made up of an assembly of a pluralityof panels of plastic, each of said panels comprising a flat body havinga receiving rib extending along one edge thereof and an inserting ribextending along its opposite edge, said receiving rib having alongitudinal groove therein for receiving the inserting rib of anadjacent panel in the shade assembly, and plastic cement in said groovefor permanently connecting the receiving rib and inserting rib ofadjacent sections.

2. In a lamp shade, a shade body made up of an assembly of a pluralityof panels of plastic, each of said panels comprising a flat body havinga receiving rib extending along one edge thereof and an inserting ribextending along its opposite edge, said receiving rib having alongitudinal groove therein for receiving the inserting rib of anadjacent panel in the shade assembly, plastic cement in said groove forpermanently connecting the receiving rib and inserting of adjacentsections, and a lateral rib extending across the top edge of each panel,said receiving rib having its outer portion at its top cut away so as topermit the top end of the receiving rib of one panel to engage againstthe lateral rib of an adjacent panel for regulating the longitudinalrelative positions of adjacent panels during assembly of the shade.

3. In a lamp shade, a shade body made up of an assembly of a pluralityof panels of plastic, each of said panels comprising a flat body havinga receiving rib extending along one edge thereof s and an inserting ribextending along its opposite edge, said receiving rib having alongitudinal groove therein for receiving the inserting rib of anadjacent panel in the shade assembly, said inserting rib having itsouter face cut at an acute angle to a plane perpendicular to the face ofthe panel body and the outer edge of the inserting rib being cut at anacute angle to the plane of the outer face of the inserting rib and atan obtuse angle to a plane perpendicular to the face of :Etheeflat:body" of thee-panels the: :groovecin. said receiving; rib having-itsouter. faceecut: atsanacute angle; to: a; planeperpendicularxtoythe-faceof athe fiatrbodyrof theypanelaiand-sitsrinner-face perpen-n dicular. to the=planeof :the faceof-Jth'e. panel body; the edge portion ofitheaportionwofthe receivingrib outwardly of:the.groove being :cutaat an obtuse. angle. totheangular outer face of the groove and at an .acuterangleuto a-planeperpendicular to the face of the panel body whereby when two adjacentpanels aressconnectedrby their receiving and inserting ribs the saidpanels will assume the proper angular relationone to theother in theshade asembly, and means permanently connecting the panels.

4. In a lamp shade, a shade body made up of an assembly of a pluralityof panels of plastic, each of said panels comprising a fiat body havinga receiving rib extending along one edge thereof and an inserting ribextending along its opposite edge, said receiving rib having alongitudinal groove therein for receiving the inserting rib of anadjacent panel in the shade assembly, said inserting rib having itsouter face cut at an acute angle to a plane perpendicular to the face ofthe panel body and the outer edge of the inserting rib being cut at anacute angle to the plane of the outer face of the inserting rib and atan acute an le to a plane perpendicular to the face of the flat body ofthe panel, the groove in said receiving rib having its outer face cut atan acute angle to a plane perpendicular to the face of the flat body ofthe panel and its inner face perpendicular to the plane of the face ofthe panel body, the edge portion of the portion of the receiving riboutwardly of the groove being cut at an obtuse angle to the angularouter face of the groove and at an acute angle to a plane perpendicularto the face of the panel body whereby when two adjacent panels areconnected by their receiving and inserting ribs the said panels willassume the proper angular relation one to the other in the shadeassembly, and means permanently connecting the panels, the lateral ribextending across the top edge of each panel, said receiving rib havingits outer portion at its top cut away so as to permit the top end of thereceiving rib of one panel to engage against the lateral rib of anadjacent panel for regulating the relative longitudinal positions ofadjacent panels during assembly of a shade.

5. A lamp shade as claimed in claim 1 wherein the receiving ribs of allof the panels have transverse grooves formed therein near their upperends all of which transverse grooves align in an assembled shade, and alamp base engaging frame including an annular rim, said annular rimengaging in said transverse grooves.

6. A lamp shade as claimed in claim 2 wherein the receiving ribs of allof the panels have transverse grooves formed therein near their upperends all of which transverse grooves align in an assembled shade, and alamp base engaging frame including an annular rim, said annular rimengagingin said transverse grooves.

7. A lamp shade as claimed in claim 3 wherein the receiving ribs of allof the panels have transverse grooves formed therein near their upperends all of which transverse grooves align in an r assembled shade, anda lamp base engaging frame including an annular rim, said annular 7 5rim engaging in said transverse grooves.

5 8. A lamp shade as claimed in claim 4 wherein the receiving ribs of3.1101 the panels have transverse grooves formed therein near theirupper ends all of which transverse grooves align in an assembled shade,and a lamp base engaging frame including an annular rim, said annularrim engaging in said transverse grooves.

EDWARD K. MADAN. ROBERT W. MADAN.

REFERENCES CITED I The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

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